A Barber and His Wife
by ConfusedColumbia26220
Summary: Simular to the movie except for one major difference - Lucy doesn't exist, Nellie was and is his wife. Sweenett, but more Ben/Nellie. ONESHOT! Reviews are love. First shot at a "cockney" accent.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing Sweeney Todd!**

**AN: Takes place with the Helena and Johnny version. Reviews are love! Starts out fairly the same. ;) Be gentle, this was my first real attempt at a "cockney" accent.**

". . .And 'e was naive." Benjamin, alias Sweeney, finished.

"And the lady, sir, did she succumb?" the sailor by the name of Anthony asked.

"Oh, that was many years ago," Benjamin began. "I doubt if anyone would know," he answered. He started to walk away when Anthony caught his sleeve.

"Will we meet again?" he asked.

"I suppose you might find me if you'd like," Sweeney answered. "Somewhere on Fleet Streetm I wouldn't wonder."

"Until them, my friend," Anthony said, extending his hand towards Benjamin for a handshake. Benjamin ignored it and briskly walked away, heading for Fleet Street, where his home once was, in search of his wife and child.

ST

Benjamin finally found the building that was once his home. Something wasn't quite right about it though, the lower half had been transformed into a pie shop, _Mrs. Lovett's meat pies_, to be exact. He sincerely hoped no one had bought his former home. He approached the door to the pie shop both cautiously and curiously. When he silently opened the door all he could do was simply stand in the doorway, completely transfixed with the sight before him.

He did it, he'd found his wife! It was an older version of Nellie, but it was still the Nellie that he'd fallen in love with. She was chopping up dough with a pastry knife and looking rather bored while doing so. She glanced up briefly, looked back down to the dough she was chopping, then did a double take. She gasped when her eyes finally registered what, or rather _who_ they saw and plunged her pastry knife into the counter. She was the first to speak.

"B-Ben, i-is that you?" she asked, stuttering, her eyes immediately filling to the brim with tears. Benjamin walked in the rest of the way, closing the door while Nellie walked around the counter.

"Yes, Nell, it's me," he answered. Nellie was now only about a foot away from him, her eyes locked on his.

"I thought you weren't coming back," Nellie said softly, a tear sliding down her cheek. Benjamin rested his hand on her cheek and brushed the tear away. Nellie closed her eyes, making more tears fall. Benjamin pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back in soothing circles, the way he used to whenever she was upset. She clung to him as if he was the last solid thing in the world, as she cried into his shoulder. Benjamin closed his eyes, his own tears falling, too. After fifteen years, he was finally reunited with his wife! After fifteen years of torture, everything would be alright again.

Even when they'd stopped crying they still hugged, just to be in each other's embrace after so long.

"I've missed ya so much!" Nellie exclaimed quietly.

"I've missed ya too, terribly," Benjamin replied. "Ya don't even know 'ow great it is to 'ear yer voice, to be this close again!" Nellie pilled her head away, just enough so that she could look at him while being in his embrace.

"I think I do," she protested, awful memories flashing back quickly. She kissed him, soft and with passion, telling him with her body what words couldn't even begin to describe.

When they broke the kiss Benjamin asked one of the questions that she'd rather hoped he wouldn't when he'd arrived.

"So, what's 'appened to ya in all these years I've been gone?" Nellie sighed.

"Let's take this inta the parlor, love. We're gonna need ta sit down fa this one," she explained, a somewhat warning tone in her voice. Benjamin followed her into the parlor. They sat down on their small sofa. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself. She opened her eyes and asked,

"Where would ya like me to begin?"

"About right afta the damn judge 'ad 'is gaurds drag me away," Benjamin answered.

_Oh fun, _Nellie thought saracastically.

"First off," she began. "Our little Johanna started wailing, and I couldn't calm 'er down. That slimeball of a jusge comes up behind me an' places a hand on me shoulder, and I bolt. When I get 'ome I try distractin' meself with Johanna, but ya keep poppin' back in me 'ead, so I jus' let go an' cry me eyes out, longin' for ya in every possible way.

"Don't rememba 'ow long I cried each day, 'oldin Johanna, gazin' out o' the bloody ol' window upstairs, anxiously awaitin' yer return. Pretty soon the judge starts sendin' me bloody flowers! 'E keeps sendin' them for months, an' then 'e invites me to 'is bloody 'ouse! I refuse an' the Beadle comes, convincin' me tha' all the judge wants ta do is apologize, the bloody deceivin', lyin rat tha' 'e is! I couldn't leave our Johanna all alone while I was gone, an' I stated this. 'E offered to watch ova 'er, and I reluctantly let 'im, seein' I 'ad no otha choice.

"So we get there an' Beadle snatched Johanna out of me arms afta we go in. There's a bloody ball fa god's sake! A masquerade ball at that! I think, 'oh great!' and begin lookin' fa Turpin. I ask around an' no one answers me straightforward. Someone 'ands me a drink an' I gratefully take it, thinkin' it's wine or gin or somethin', anythin' to calm me down, get me out o' the distressed state I was in. I'm not sure what it was, but I quickly regretted takin' it. I felt dizzy an' sick, I collapsed onto the couch, breathin' 'eavily. I thought, 'oh, great, I've been poisoned!' An' then -" he voice caught in her throat for the first time in her retelling, or rather, reliving her memories.

"Nellie?" Benjamin asked. He held her hand reassuringly. Nellie took a deep breath.

"An' then 'e - 'e raped me while I was too weak ta stop 'im! 'E raped me, Ben!" she flung her arms around him, forcing herself not to cry. Benjamin patted her back soothingly, hatred for the judge stronger than before.

"I know it'll be 'ard for ya ta continue on, but I must know what else 'as 'appened during me time away, he said, encouraging her to continue, understanding why she wouldn't want to. Nellie pulled away and took yet another deep breath.

"An' ta make things even _worse_," she continued. "'E took our daughter."

"'E did _what?!_" Benjamin barked, enraged.

"'E took Johanna, raised 'er as 'is own! I couldn't do anythin' about it, either! With 'im bein' the judge an' all, 'e threatened to send me ta bedlam if I tried ta do anythin' about it!" she took a deep breath to calm herself down. "An' that's about it fa the judge portion of my life. If ya thought all that was bad, wait until ya 'ear the next part," she said glumly. She was about to answer the third question she didn't want to be asked, she'd already answered the other two: 'What's 'appened while I've been gone?' and, 'What's 'appened ta Johanna?'

"I bet yer wonderin' why me shop is titled, _'Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop_', am I correct?" Nellie asked. Benjamin nodded. "Well, afta ten years o' ya bein' gone an' loneliness, I began losin' 'ope that ya'd come 'ome, an', ironically, around that time I met a seemingly sweet man named Albet who turned out to be a monster. At first it was almost too good ta be true. 'E was so nice, so gentle, up until we got married," she noticed Benjamin tense at this. "Benny, please, don't be angry," Nellie begged. Benjamin gave her a reassuring hug.

"I'll try not ta," he promised. Nellie relaxed a little then pulled away, continuing on.

"Afta the marriage, everythin' went down-'ill. 'E actually _forced_ me ta open a shop with the title it still 'as, an' 'e started abusin' me, an' that' includes sexually."

"'Ow long were ya togetha?" Benjamin asked.

"Before marriage, afta marriage, totaled, what?"

"Before an' afta," Benjamin answered.

"Before marriage, three years, afta marriage, one month," Nellie answered his previous question.

"So, what 'appened? Did ya tell anyone?" Benjamin asked. Nellie shook her head.

"Couldn't. 'E threatened ta kill me if I did, an' I found out way too late tha' he was friends with the judge. . ." Nellie answered tailing off.

"An'?"

"Thankfully 'e got sick an' died an' I welcomed the loneliness for the next two years. . .an' 'ere we are! Ya've come 'ome!" she said the last happily.

"Looks like the years 'ave been 'ard on both o' us," Benjamin stated, a plot of revenge forming in his head. "I'm so, so, so sorry tha' I 'avn't been 'ere ta protect ya and Johanna all these years," he apologized.

"Oh, Ben! It's not yer fault! It's the bloody Beadle an' Turpin's fault!" Nellie insisted. She hugged him lovingly. "Yer 'ome now an' tha's all tha' mattas."

"Fifteen years an' ya 'aven't changed one bit," Benjamin said admiringly as he smiled down at his wife. "One o' the many reasons tha' I love ya." Nellie looked up at this and flashed her usual smile that he had missed for so long.

"I love ya, too," she replied before kissing him lovingly. Benjamin knew that, no matter what, everything would be alright in the end.

And it was. Within a span of two weeks the judge and Beadle were dead and he got his daughter back. They were a family again.


End file.
